Prose & Poetry - The Muse in Arms - Introduction
First published in London
in November 1917 and reprinted in February 1918 The Muse in Arms
comprised, in the words of editor E. B. Osborne:
"A collection of war poems, for the most part written in the field of action, by seamen, soldiers, and flying men who are serving, or have served, in the Great War".
Many of the poems were written by figures that have become household names today: Ivor Gurney, Robert Nichols, Rupert Brooke to name just three. However the real value of The Muse in Arms lies in it brought together fine poetry by many more people who never achieved post-war fame: indeed from many servicemen who perished during wartime and whose literary output was strictly limited.
Contained within this section of the site are all of the poems collected by Osborn within the pages of The Muse of War, some 131 in total. Each is bracketed within one of fourteen categories: The Mother Land, Before Action, Battle Pieces, The Sea Affair, War in the Air, In Memoriam, The Future Hope, The Christian Soldier, School and College, Chivalry of Sport, The Ghostly Company, Songs, Loving and Living and Moods and Memories. For the most part the names of these categories are self-explanatory.
The poems can be accessed using the sidebar to the right; each poem is listed within one of the fourteen available categories.
A "lazy liz" was a heavy artillery shell fired by the Allied battleship Queen Elizabeth.
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